Missing
by jhvh777
Summary: The battle is winding down, and a second of distraction causes one on the team to be lost. But Billy won't stop until his brother is returned.
1. Chapter 1

There were few things that Teddy could honestly say he hated. He was a generally nice and friendly guy, and was willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. He approached new people and ideas with an open mind and a friendly smile. But as Billy buried his head under his, he decided that he truly, honestly hated the aliens who did this to Billy. To Tommy.

He didn't see when Tommy was shot into the far reaches of the galaxy. The bright green light wasn't what drew his attention to Billy's fight. It was Billy's scream of denial, the bright blue flash of power, the muted boom of a gun exploding, and the tinkling of metal hitting the ground. He threw his thug to the ground and turned. His heart stopped when he saw the gun pointed at a stunned Billy, and he swore he moved almost as fast as Tommy to knock it off target. He didn't even flinch as the green shot past his head, missing him by an inch. He quickly wrestled the gun from the grunt, twisting the barrel until it was nothing more than a nice and shiny, high tech stick. A punch to the face sent the grunt flying away from him.

More importantly, from Billy.

Billy, who hadn't moved from the spot. Who had a look of pure shock on his face. Who was going to get shot in the back if he didn't either snap out of it or get somewhere safe.

The problem with casters, Teddy thought as he felt Billy start to shiver, was that they had a tendency to over analyze their options. He supposed it was great that they had so many, but at times it became such a huge danger to themselves and those around them. So he had made the decision for Billy, getting him to safety before he got lost. He hugged Billy tighter, hoping that would calm him down. Before he was lost, too, he'd have to say now.

He had never seen Billy freeze up so badly before. Not even when they were first practicing with Nate and Eli. He had always had everything come so naturally to him, quickly making up his mind about spells. As he sat Billy down behind a brick wall he knew something was wrong, but he didn't have time to think about that. The fight was still raging, and he needed to help. He left with a quick 'stay safe' and reentered the fight.

He personally took down three more of the invaders before the signal to retreat was given. He watched them run to their ship as he leaned over to catch his breath. They had won, and the Avengers were going to respect them even more after this. The engines whined and spun. Heat came blasting through the area. The ship started to rise. A large blue mass rose from the ground, and with sparking fingers grabbed the hull. The ship started to sink. He spun with wide eyes to where he'd left Billy.

He was met with a truly frightening sight.

Billy was floating ten feet off of the ground surrounded by a glowing mass of blue. His cape was flying in the backlash of the magic. Instead of red it was a deep purple color. His eyes were no longer the soft brown, but were hard, pure electric blue, glowing so very brightly. His hands were covered in magic, the blue taking on the shape of large claws, and as he pulled his hands down the giant mass of magic moved down. The metal shrieked under the strain.

"We need to get him snapped out of that before he kills everyone."

"He needs to let them go before he crushes them." He tore his eyes away from Billy to look at Captain America and Wolverine. They were giving Billy the same look they gave the aliens before the fight, an appraising look. The ships engines whined as her hull buckled. Kate shoved her way through the crowd to Cap.

"He's not going to kill anyone. _And_ we need them to find out where they sent Tommy." As Kate continued arguing with Captain America and Wolverine Teddy turned back to Billy. The ships engines died as she gave up her fight. The blue hands slid off of the ship and back into the ground. Everyone was silent.

Billy rocketed across the field, a trail of blue sparkling behind him. He landed by the main air lock and took a deep breath. The blue claws slid through the metal like it was tissue paper. The metal shrieked in protest. He sliced most of the door off, throwing it to the ground behind him. It embedded itself a foot deep. Billy's magic flickered as he went inside the ship.

Teddy was off after him before anyone else had finished processing what had just happened. He ducked through the melted door frame and found Billy yelling at the invader's leader. The glow was gone. The claws were gone. His eyes were chocolate brown again. The leader looked more frightened than when he faced Captain America in hand to hand combat. He had the look of someone who was about to soil them self.

"WHERE DID YOU SEND TOMMY?"

God, his voice sounded broken. He quickly closed the distance between them, prying his boyfriend away and wrapping him in a side hug. He gave Billy a kiss on the top of his head as he led them back outside. Captain America was waiting by the door for them. He seemed relieved as they exited. Wolverine stood by the embedded hatch, running his hand over the melted metal. He watched the two walk by with narrowed eyes. Teddy returned the look of disgust, turning his body to shield Billy from view. Eventually they made it to where everyone was sitting. As they took their seats the team scooted in closer to the two, but not close enough to touch.

No one had said anything as Billy curled up with him, but the shock was clear on their faces. The fear was better concealed. Billy's easy going nature made people forget just how damn powerful he was.

Billy started to hyperventilate. He rubbed his back as a small damp spot formed on his shirt. "Shh, Billy. It's going to be okay. We're going to find Tommy, and he's going to be just fine. Don't worry. Shh." It took a few minutes for him to calm down.

Kate motioned behind him, and he turned to see Cap exit the ship and head over to his team. They spoke for a few minutes before he and Hawkeye headed over. Their faces were drawn. They looked straight at Billy before addressing the team.

"We don't know exactly where they sent Tommy, but we have one of the guns. We should be able to trace the coordinates in the next few hours." Teddy felt Billy shift, burying his head deeper into Teddy and holding on tighter. "We're going to do everything we can to find him and bring him back safely. For now, you kids need to rest and heal up." Murmurs of consent weaved through the team.

He felt his heart skip a beat as Billy went limp in his arms. His eyes widened in panic as he looked to his boyfriend.

"Billy, Billy, wake up. Come on, don't do this to me," he lightly slapped Billy's face in an effort to wake him up. Billy didn't look like he was hurt, no gaping wounds or anything, but that didn't mean he wasn't. Jonas laid a hand on his shoulder as he checked for a pulse.

"He's only asleep, Teddy. He's fine." He found a strong pulse under his fingers and let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe you kids should come back to the mansion," said Hawkeye. "Make sure that Billy didn't hurt himself." Kate nodded and they followed the adults out of the park.

It was a fight to get him to leave Billy when they returned to the mansion. He didn't see why they couldn't just do a checkup on both of them at the same time in the same room. It wasn't until Eli, who had just finished getting patched up, offered to watch over Billy that he admitted defeat and walked into the clinic.

It wasn't like he didn't trust the Avengers to not hurt Billy. He just didn't want Billy to have to wake up alone in a strange room with his last thoughts being on how he had just lost his brother. He needed someone who he knew, someone he trusted, to be there to tell him that everything was going to be okay. That the world hadn't ended. Someone who knew what he was going through. Who also happened to be his boyfriend. He fidgeted throughout the exam.

After what felt like a lifetime they finished his checkup and he was given directions to the room he was going to be staying in. He left the room to find Eli waiting in the hallway with a sleeping Billy in his arms. "Beast says he's completely drained himself of magic. It's going to take him a month to recover enough to go out on patrol again without hurting himself," he said as he handed Billy over. There were deep purple bags under his eyes and was pale as a sheet, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. "I'm going to hit the sack. You should do the same. You look like you're about to fall over." He waved as he walked down the hall to his own room.

It didn't take too long to find the room. It was a large room done in a nice cream color, had a nice TV, a few potted plants, a bookcase, and, most importantly, a queen sized bed piled high with pillows and blankets in the middle of it. He pulled the covers back, set Billy down, curled up around him and went to sleep.

The next few days had him fussing over Billy. He saw the signs that he was starting to slip into a depression, despite his best efforts to pull him out of it. He tried his hardest to replicate what Billy had done for him. He joked around when he was sad but not too sad, made sure he had plenty of junk food to eat, held him when he cried for his brother. He didn't want Billy to hurt. He wanted to be able to help him overcome this.

He knew he wasn't doing a very good job. He didn't know how to comfort someone in this situation.

Billy must have picked up on his mood because a week after Tommy was lost he insisted he go out with the team. They argued for a good hour about how he needed to be with him more, and how the team would understand. But Billy was adamant. So he promised to bring him some food back and left.

Jonas was nice enough to wait until they were seated and eating to drop the bombshell. "They've found where Tommy is, but have no idea how to get him back. He's on a gladiatorial planet in deep space, they just don't know where on it. He could be in a city, the plains, or, heaven forbid, the fighting pits. They're working on a plan to get him back, but it's going to be a while if they go through the proper channels."

That night he held Billy closer and harder than ever.

The Kaplans were briefed on exactly what had happened a day before he and Billy were sent home. They had a general idea of what was going on from the news and quick updates from Beast, but the details were always left out. When they walked in the front door Billy found himself squished into his parents arms and subjected to a lecture. The twins latched onto Teddy, using him as a ladder to get onto his shoulders. He carried them out of the room while Billy got the safety talk that only concerned parents were able to give. "Hey guys, you want to do me a favor?"

Their faces scrunched up in suspicion. "What do we get?" Teddy thought for a second.

"Well, I'll get you that new video game you two were looking at, and a signed photo of the Avengers." Their eyes lit up at the mention of the picture. Their smiles threatened to spit their faces in half.

"What do we have to do?"

"Just keep Billy from hiding by himself in his room everyday when no one else is here. Try and cheer him up." They pinkie-promised they would. They raced out of the room and tackled Billy's legs, knocking him over before hugging him tightly.

The second week came to a close and Billy was starting to look better. The dark bruises under his eyes were gone, and color had returned to his face. The twins had out done themselves. There were many times when he would slip in through the front door after patrol to hear Billy laugh softly at their antics.

School was still a chore, but no one picked on Billy thanks to him. The one kid who tried got a glare so intense he swore a hole had been drilled in his head. Billy had been recovering so well that he and the twins started to slack off on their Billy-sitting duties.

So he was very shocked when Spiderman showed up next to him on patrol one night and asked him why Billy was patrolling by himself in his civilian clothes near the park.

He froze for a second, and let out a string of cuss words as he took off. He heard the team follow as fast as they could. They really could have used Tommy right then. The park was so large that they had no idea where to start looking. Well, not until Billy lit up like a floodlight.

As they got closer they saw the Avengers approaching as well. They looked shocked. "I told you we should have taken that punk out before he destroyed the city," Wolverine spat at Hawkeye as they found the grove Billy was in. He was floating, magic pulsing out from him in time with what appeared to be the beating of his heart. His hands were cupped in front of him holding a ball of electric blue magic that kept getting deeper and deeper in color. His eyes were closed. He looked so peaceful.

Teddy pushed his way past Wolverine, standing with arms crossed as he glared at the older hero

"You want to kill him? You have to go through me." He had no idea what it was that Billy was doing, but he had a hunch. He wasn't going to hurt anyone, and it might just help everyone involved in this fiasco. And if he was correct no one was going to get past him. Before Wolverine could respond with something more than a glare, the ball in Billy's hand exploded. He spun around.

It looked like he was being tortured. His back arched into a painful angle as his muscles seized. His eyes opened wide in shock and pain. And then he started to scream. Teddy felt his stomach turn to ice as he cried out to Billy, and it took his whole team and a few Avengers to keep him from pushing his way through the devastation to his boyfriend. A bolt of lightning came flying out of the vortex that was forming around Billy. It struck the ground at Wolverine's feet. Rocks were flying everywhere, and Kate had taken shelter behind him. A tree fell to the winds. But no matter how loud the winds got, how loud the trees sounded as they snapped in half, how loud the rocks cracked as they were flung into the sky, he could still hear Billy screaming in pain over the cacophony he created.

The silence that followed was deafening. Teddy wiped the dirt out of his face as he looked around. The grove of trees was gone. The trees themselves were tossed like twigs around the newly made clearing. Clumps of grass were scattered about. He felt Kate cough behind him as she stood back and dusted herself off, but his attention was drawn to the dust cloud in the center of the crater. He ignored Eli asking if everyone was okay and Wolverine's acidic response. He just watched as the dust settled.

Billy had done it.

He was sitting up, clutching Tommy as hard as he could to him. Tommy, surprisingly, was not trying to get out of the hug. He was actually hugging back, albeit tentatively. Teddy rushed into the crater, followed closely by the rest of the team, and gathered the brothers into a hug. He buried his face in Billy's hair as everyone else held onto the two.

"H-hey, let go." Tommy squirmed in the embrace, halfheartedly trying to escape. Billy just sighed, and for the second time that month, passed out. Tommy's eyes widened as his twin went limp. "Billy? Billy? You okay dude?" A sigh came from behind them.

"I told him no magic for at least a month." Beast sat down next across from them and checked Billy's pulse. "And look at what he does." He sighed and looked at Tommy. "He'll be fine. He just exhausted his entire reserve of magic. Again." He looked around at the kids. "Well, we had better get to the mansion to make sure these two are okay. Would someone please carry Tommy there? I don't want him putting any more strain on his body at least until I can examine him." Teddy smiled as he picked up and carried Billy out of the crater, Tommy complaining in the background as Eli picked him up. He kissed Billy's cheek.

"You did it."

He didn't spend as much time with Billy this time around. Partially because Billy was perfectly content, partially because he had to go back to school, but mostly due to the fact that Tommy was stuck taking care of him whenever he wasn't there. He did spend every night there, and brought the twins their homework, but the all-consuming need to spend every waking second there was gone. Billy was going to be okay.

The twins were put in the same room at the mansion at Beasts request. With the loss of his magic, Billy had become very clingy to everyone he trusted, mostly Tommy, and started having minor panic attacks when he was left alone for over an hour. He guessed it was because of how he had cast the teleportation spell to get Tommy back. With a little over half of his magic left and the small scars from where he overworked himself the first time, he had poured part of _himself _into the spell. So without any magic to act as a barrier between himself and the part of himself that he used to bring his brother back, he was going to want to stay as close as he could. Or that's what Teddy had made of Beast's speech.

He opened the door to what was quickly becoming a normal scene. Tommy was laying down watching the TV at the end of the bed with Billy curled up next to him asleep. Tommy put a finger to his lips as he entered and set the backpacks down at the foot of the bed.

"I just got him to let go, so don't wake him up," he whispered. Teddy just smiled at him and walked over to Billy.

"This is what you get for worrying everyone sick for two weeks, Tommy. Especially Billy," he said in a normal tone of voice as he ran his fingers through Billy's hair. He blinked owlishly and yawned.

"Time for me to get my daily speech about how I need to take better care of myself?" he asked as he stretched. Teddy chuckled and kissed his forehead.

"No, I've run out of new things to say." Billy just hummed and pulled him down onto the bed. He would bet that Billy hadn't actually heard a word he said. The bed shifted as Tommy tried to leave, but he took a bit too long to untangle the sheets around his legs and Billy managed to successfully capture his arm. He groaned as Billy rolled over to cuddle with him. Teddy just smiled at him and patted his head as well. The glare he got in return could have melted concrete.

"Billy, I don't want cuddles. Let me go." He watched as Tommy tried valiantly to escape, but Billy held on. He reached over the twins, holding them as close to him as he could. "Teddy, I swear, if you don't let me go you will lose an arm." He raised an eyebrow at the threat. Billy sighed and nuzzled closer to him. Tommy groaned. "Are you going to get this cuddly every time this happens?"

Those were the exact wrong words to ask Billy. He saw his eyes get wide and felt his breathing hitch before he flipped around and seemed to try to fuze himself to his twin. Tommy dropped his head back on the pillow in defeat. "Your boyfriend wants your cuddles. I don't, remember?" Teddy laughed before answering.

"Ah, Tommy, I don't mind sharing. Besides, you remember what Beast said. Billy wished so hard to get you back that he used up all of his magic. Again." He ruffled his boyfriend's hair. "Last time he didn't get what he 'wanted', and he got really depressed. This time he did, and until he builds up his reserves again, he's going to latch onto the thing he 'wanted' last."

Tommy tried to detach his twin again. He really should have learned by now that Billy was worse than an octopus when he wanted cuddles. He let out a groan of defeat. "Yeah, but I didn't think he meant the latching on thing literally."

He chuckled, and, after figuring that Tommy was getting to the point that he would remove his arm with great prejudice, he wrapped it around his boyfriend. "I don't think he did either, but you know magic is." He knew how _Billy_ was at least.

"Bat-shit crazy?" he asked as he shifted around, trying to get comfortable despite his twin. Teddy chuckled as Billy let out a sigh of contentment. He now knew why Tommy absolutely loved trolling people. It was so much fun riling them up.

"Go to bed Tommy. You have a long day of taking care of a cuddly Billy tomorrow." A low growl came from the other side of the bed.

"Fuck you, Altman." He snickered into Billy's back. Way too much fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Tommy had been missing for a week. Billy had last seen him when they were helping the Avengers clean up some alien trash. Some trash that had access to a teleporter gun. And with the luck their team had it really should have come to no surprise that Tommy got hit during one of the few seconds that he actually stopped. Billy had seen the grunt line up the shot, but had been too slow with his casting to blow up the gun before Tommy had been hit. The gun did explode, though. Two seconds after Tommy was flung to the furthest reaches of space. Billy froze when he realized Tommy wasn't just zipping off faster than the eye could see.

If it wasn't for Teddy Billy would have followed his brother, because as he stood there like an idiot another grunt lined up a shot. Teddy threw the grunt into a brick wall before pulling Billy out of the middle of the fight. Teddy led him to a sturdy wall where he could take cover while he collected himself before launching himself back into the fray. It wasn't much longer until the battle wound down. The aliens retreated to their ship, and tried to escape to space. Seeing the only chance of finding his brother again attempt to flee Billy panicked. He grabbed a hold of the ship with his magic and embedded it in the ground. Blue energy fell around the ship, digging into the ground. They pushed their thrusters to the limit, but the shield didn't budge.

When the engines finally died Billy let go. He shook off the head rush that he associated with quickly draining his magic and stumbled to the hatch. He ignored the harsh mumblings of the Avengers and she shocked silence of his team. Using what was left of his power, he ripped the hatch off, sending it flying to the side. The aliens looked terrified, and quickly surrendered to him. Billy didn't care about that. He approached the leader, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pulled him so that they were eye to eye.

"Where's my brother? Where did you send him?" The leader couldn't seem to be able to get his mouth to work. Billy shook him as his voice rose an octave in fear and anger. "WHERE DID YOU SEND TOMMY?"

Heavy footsteps came running into the cabin and Teddy's hand covered his. He gently pried his hands away from the alien's shirt. Teddy moved him out of the ship and over to where the team was sitting stunned. It wasn't everyday that they were reminded of the sheer power that Billy could use if he wanted to. Billy just held onto his boyfriend with all he had, burying his face in the crook of Teddy's neck. He was drained; physically, emotionally, magically. But it was only when Captain America and Hawkeye, the old Hawkeye, walked up and told them that even though the aliens didn't know where they sent Tommy, they were going to do everything in their power to find him that Billy finally let himself pass out.

He must have scared everyone to death with that stunt. The team was taken back to the mansion to rest, and Billy woke up in a decent sized bed with Teddy asleep beside him. He was under observation by some doctor to make sure he hadn't permanently injured himself by counteracting the laws of physics using only his will. And despite Teddy's best effort, Billy had heard the gossip in the halls. They were scared he was going to turn out just like his mom. That he was going to possibly get everyone killed if he ever lost control like that again. The saddest part, to Billy at least, was that he hadn't lost control. They all thought that just because he put everything he had into trying to do _something_ to help his brother he was going to snap and, and, and what? What good could possibly come from killing the few people on the planet who could find Tommy? Did they think that he was going to do some insane blood ritual to summon his brother or something? He just curled up tighter on the bed, pulling the comforter in close.

Teddy had barely left his side while he recovered, and helped keep most of the horrible thoughts away, but Billy had sent him to go get something to eat with the team. He was just going to sleep anyway, and Teddy didn't need to keep himself cooped up just because he pulled a stupid stunt. And, even though he'd never ever tell Teddy, he wanted to be alone. No, actually he wanted Tommy. Only Tommy.

It took over an hour to convince him, but now Billy was regretting it. He swore he could feel the distance between everyone on the team, with most of the warmth a few miles away, and one pinprick so tiny he was sure that he was imagining it. He felt his eyes start to water as he realized how alone he was.

"_Iwantmybrotherback. Iwantmybrotherback. Iwantmybrotherback."_ His magic was still too tired to do anything. He wiped his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

It was another week before Billy felt any magic return to him. He had returned home to his parents, who were rather angry at him for not calling and recklessly endangering himself. They hugged him until he felt like he was going to pass out. They didn't ask about Tommy. He returned to school. He was glad that Teddy had transferred to his school when he moved in with them, because he didn't think he could stand to see Tommy's empty seat by himself. The only thing he didn't, couldn't return to was patrol. Having no magic and going out was like painting a huge target on his back, and Teddy made sure he didn't follow them by enlisting the help of his little brothers.

The twins mission was to keep Billy in the living room where everyone could see him and not let him leave until their parents got home. They spent their time getting Billy to help them on their homework, read them a book, play a tie-breaker round on any videogame they managed to get their hands on, anything. And it worked. Right up until Billy felt his magic reserves build up enough to try another crazy stunt. He managed to sneak out the front door while the twins were focused on some hard homework and ran into the city. He avoided the areas that were usually patrolled by his team, dodged Spiderman, and successfully made it to Central Park. He found a secluded grove of trees and sat down. He reached into himself and pulled all of his magic, focusing it into a single idea. A single spell. He was glowing like a neon sign, but he didn't care. He didn't notice when he began to float. When his magic began to pulse out from him.

"_IwantmybrotherNOW."_

Magic exploded from him.

The pain was immense. His magic had never hurt him before, but now it seemed to be trying to rip him in half. Claws drug themselves up his legs. His head was in a vice. His back arched as he screamed. He vaguely heard Teddy screaming at someone in the background as his chest burned like he had been stabbed by a white hot poker. He felt his magic reach out to further than he had ever imagined. There, beyond the furthest reaches of his imagination he felt something so familiar, so _Tommy_, that he grabbed onto it with all he had and just _pulled_. He smelled ozone and felt lightning dance over his face. He felt fire burn his arms and ice freeze his back. He felt himself ripping apart, but he never let go. The more intense the pain got, the harder he pulled.

And as quickly as it began, it stopped.

Billy was vaguely aware that there was something large and heavy on him, pinning him to the ground. As he opened his eyes to the devastation that he caused to the surrounding area, he looked at what, no who, was on him. Tommy. He looked tired, cold, dirty, and hungry, but he was here. He'd done it. With a sob he launched himself at his twin. He held on tighter than he ever had before.

"I thought I had lost you," he cried. "I thought I was never going to see you again." He felt Tommy tentatively return the hug.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." Billy just cried harder into his twin. He didn't register when the rest of the team picked their way through the uprooted trees and burned grass joined them in the small crater. He didn't notice when Teddy started the group hug that everyone else joined in. He only felt Tommy shifting uncomfortably with all of the attention. Then he felt himself pass out.

Needless to say Teddy was beyond pissed off at him. He had gotten the 'how could you be so stupid?' and the 'that was extremely reckless' speeches twice each, and the 'if you ever worry me like that again' threat six times. Billy just smiled at him and pulled him onto the queen sized bed he was sharing with Tommy each time. Tommy would then let him know that he didn't want any cuddles and would try to leave. Billy would just attach himself to one of Tommy's arms and roll over, pinning it underneath him while he cuddled with Teddy. Tommy's powers were acting strange, and his super speed hadn't returned. Or so he kept telling everyone who saw him cuddling.

"Are you going to get this cuddly every time this happens?" Tommy asked with a huff. Billy just turned over from facing Teddy to completely attaching himself to his twin. Tommy sighed. "Your boyfriend wants your cuddles. I don't, remember." Billy did, but he didn't care. Tommy would learn to love the cuddle. Teddy chuckled.

"You heard what Beast said. Billy wished so hard to get you back that he used up all of his magic. Again. Last time he didn't get what he 'wanted', and he got really depressed. This time he did, and until he builds up his reserves again, he's going to latch onto the thing he 'wanted' last." Billy felt Tommy shift and try to push him off. Again. It didn't work that time either.

"Yeah, but I didn't think he meant the latching on thing literally." Teddy just laughed and wrapped his arms around Billy.

"I don't think he did either, but you know how magic is."

"Bat-shit crazy?" Teddy just relaxed into the bed.

"Go to bed Tommy. You have a long day of taking care of a cuddly Billy tomorrow."

"Fuck you Altman."

And all was right with the world.


End file.
